Its a sad state of affairs. I was just getting to the point where I was going to commit to relearning and mastering a squat (want to be efficient with front and back squat)....then the Y goes and gets rid of all the squat racks and the only option is a smith machine. Guess I'm gonna have to shell out some money for the home equipment after all.

Anyway did 5x5 @ 170lbs on the smith of "ATG back squats" yesterday. I'm 50/50 on even using the smith. I don't wanna get too use to it or program any bad habits, but it really felt ok. Followed that with 6 bike sprints for 20/40 intervals.

No back pain today, which has always been the limiting factor. I had just planned to stick to 1x BW squats for a solid 1000 reps before moving ramping up. Don't ask me why, but 100 reps a week at BW (which I never get pain with) for around 10 weeks seemed like an excellent way to bring my lagging muscles and connective tissue up to speed before ramping up the weight. I've always been a bit impatient about adding weight in the past, so 1000 reps gives me a goal.

Its a sad state of affairs. I was just getting to the point where I was going to commit to relearning and mastering a squat (want to be efficient with front and back squat)....then the Y goes and gets rid of all the squat racks and the only option is a smith machine. Guess I'm gonna have to shell out some money for the home equipment after all.

Anyway did 5x5 @ 170lbs on the smith of "ATG back squats" yesterday. I'm 50/50 on even using the smith. I don't wanna get too use to it or program any bad habits, but it really felt ok. Followed that with 6 bike sprints for 20/40 intervals.

No back pain today, which has always been the limiting factor. I had just planned to stick to 1x BW squats for a solid 1000 reps before moving ramping up. Don't ask me why, but 100 reps a week at BW (which I never get pain with) for around 10 weeks seemed like an excellent way to bring my lagging muscles and connective tissue up to speed before ramping up the weight. I've always been a bit impatient about adding weight in the past, so 1000 reps gives me a goal.

I have a pair of concrete-bucket-and-2x4 squat stands (for a short person - around 5'4, but you could put them on cinder blocks or something) in central New Jersey if you want to save some money and go on a road trip. They are free to a good home.

What happened to your gym Neckhammer? My place has so many squat and power racks that nobody ever notice when I do my curls in one of them...

Oh they got this big grant. Not big enough to expand space, but big enough to buy Smith machines to replace squat racks and like 30 freaking new pieces of cardio equipment that you can watch tv on (thats the biggest waste), oh and some new cybex machines. The problem is I got nothing against machines....hell I use em! I do have a problem with them completely replacing the squat rack and barbell weights.

Originally Posted by RichMahogany

I have a pair of concrete-bucket-and-2x4 squat stands (for a short person - around 5'4, but you could put them on cinder blocks or something) in central New Jersey if you want to save some money and go on a road trip. They are free to a good home.

It would be worth the trip just to shoot the shit and maybe get in a little mat time. Tough to do while running a business and keeping the fam in order though. Ah well, maybe some day, but probably not. I miss the old days....I remember only a couple years before getting married....group of people we where hanging out with where like "hey we are going to Madi Gras tonight...wanna come along?" I'm like..".sure, let me grab a pair of underwear" Then your off on a 4 day trip at the drop of a hat.

A gym that gets rid of all racks is obsurd, and not worthy going to anyway. I did squats on smith machine yesterday first time, whilst i like how it can be useful to maintain form, i think it assists too much and just doesn't feel like the real thing. It's like putting a Ferrari body kit on your crappy old cars chassi.

Going light on the deadlifts because my lower back is still playing up some and I want to make sure my form is tight and metronomic when I start going heavy again. With progressive loading I'm still some distance away from my PRs, so I think it should be sweet.